''Anyuta'' () is a one-act comic

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

to a

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

by Mikhail Popov. First performed in 1772, it was one of the first operas written in the

Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...

. The collection of Popov's poems, translations and plays called ''Dosugi'' (''Досуги'' – ''Leisure Hours'') was published at the request of Empress

Catherine II Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III ...

. This collection also contained the libretto to the opera ''Anyuta''. The music hasn't survived and its composer is not known, however it has sometimes been attributed to

Vasily Pashkevich Vasily Alexeyevich Pashkevich also Paskevich () (c. 1742, probably Ukraine – March 20, 1797 in St. Petersburg) was a Russian composer, singer, violinist and teacher of Ukrainian origin who lived during the time of Catherine the Great. Bi ...

or even to Yevstigney Fomin although at that time he was just 11 years old. It is known that the music was a selection of popular songs as specified in the libretto.

Performance history

The premiere took place at the Chinese Theatre, Tsarskoye Selo, on September 6 S August 261772. It was one of the most successful.

Plot

It is a story about a girl called Anyuta, brought up in a peasants' household, who turned out to be of noble birth, eventually marrying her nobleman beloved, Victor, to the sound of wedding bells.

Sources

*Leach, Robert and Borovsky, Victor
''A History of Russian Theatre''
Cambridge University Press, 1999, p. 72. {{ISBN, 0-521-43220-0 *Polovtsev, A.A

(''Русский биографический словарь'' А.А.Половцова) published 1896–1918. *Seaman, Gerald R.
"Russian opera before Glinka"
''Russia: Essays in History and Literature'', Lyman Howard (ed.), Brill Archive, 1972, pp. 62–63.

External links

Russian-language operas Operas 1772 operas One-act operas